Don't come knocking on MY door

World Net Daily ^ | May 22, 2010 | Patrice Lewis

[1951Boomer]

Another thing I’ve been thinking is that suppose you are NOT at home when/if something terrible happens. Suppose you’re out of town and can’t get home for an extended period of time? We all assume that our home is our permanent base. But I can envision scenarios in which our homes are unoccupied and all of that preparedness will be for nought—except the looters and squatters.

[ChocChipCookie]

I’ll leave that up to them. They know better than I how they have been treated by my sister and her spouse.

[Kartographer]

This is the article I wrote for my Preparedness Manual.

Our Christian Duty to our Fellow Man
For many Christians their responsibilities to their fellow men weight heavy in their minds and the vision of a friend or neighbor coming to them for help with a staving child is a nightmare that they fear. I have discussed this subject at length with fellow ‘preppers’ on various online preparedness groups that I frequent to and I have come to the conclusion that there is no ‘one size fits all’ answer. For almost every scripture one quotes as to it being our Christian duty to do all we can to help our fellow man, one may quote another that distains the slothful and the ill-prepared. In the end I believe it is up to each of us and the circumstances as to what and how much action we take. For a childless couple to give a neighbor a couple cans of powdered milk during a blizzard is not the same as a couple with children doing the same thing after an EMP attack. To me the order of things should be God, my family and then my fellow man. I should never do anything that jeopardizes the relationship that come before. As for me to ease my concuss and hopefully meet my duty as a Christian my own plan is to put away an extra 10% of ‘preps’ to use as tithe towards helping my fellows in an emergency. To me by setting aside that which God ask in tribute and then distribute it to those in need I have meet God’s covenants and yet have not place my family in need or want. I will add a warning to this solution and that is for you to be careful as to how you distribute this aid. In these days in which so many seem to deem that it is their ‘right’ to have their needs provided to them by others, the knowledge that you have prepared and have stores of food and goods could quickly cause others to ‘demand’ that you share. When possible I urge you go through a trusted third-party to donate your extra stocks, your church or an organization such as the Salvation Army are two good choices. But try to remain anonymous with your assistance, for desperate times drive many to desperate deeds. There is a quote from one of my all time favorite TV shows Deep Space Nine which explains this so very well:
"Let me tell you something about humans, nephew: They're a wonderful, friendly people - as long as their bellies are full and their holosuites are working. "But take away their creature comforts, deprive them of food, sleep, sonic showers, put their lives in jeopardy over an extended period of time and those friendly, intelligent, wonderful people...will become as nasty and as violent as the most blood-thirsty klingon."
Quark from: The Siege of AR-558 (#7.8)" (1998)

Or as is as 1 Timothy 5:8 says:
If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

You should never commit an act of charity that in turns places your family’s safety in jeopardy.

[Kartographer]

For those who wish my manual can be downloaded at:

http://www.mediafire.com/myfiles.php

[AppyPappy]

No it’s not realistic. This whole survival thing is a sick fantasy where people get to play God in their own heads. It’s a fantasy world where your grudges get to dig latrines for a few of your beans. Your own sister? I don’t agree with my brother’s lifestyle but I would never cast him out to perish.

She will die with her Rolex and you will die with your bitterness. I’d rather have that Rolex on Judgment Day.

If Oakland explodes in flames, I won’t need an extra bag of rice in the Appalachian hills. You want survival? Try it with no house like we do.

http://www.trailjournals.com/index.cfm

[Allegra]

History is full of people who ignored warning signs and put their heads in the sand...

And then there are those of us who are literally in the sand, 7,000 miles from home, therefore finding it somewhat difficult to prepare for something we don't even really know is going to happen.

We're not all "Grasshoppers," you know.

[Ellendra]

My dad seems to equate prepping with hoarding disorder. Makes it very hard sometimes to protect things from his “cleaning”. But my land is safe (after one or two arguments and some rather territorial displays on my part), so I plant lots and lots of seeds.

I’m hoping to add a few outbuildings this year, the house will have to wait until I save enough for the permits. But, I know the town board is willing to make exceptions during difficult times, and they are all preppers themselves, so if things hit the fan I’m pretty sure the permits won’t be a problem. I’d just like to have something there before then.

[Ellendra]

That's 47 pints in two days. That is not the sum total of the author's preparations.

[Ellendra]

I usually roast or simmer mine first until they are falling off the bone, then pack hot into pint (or smaller, I use half-pints and 1/4-pints a lot) jars, adding broth or water and leaving 1 inch headspace. Process in a pressure canner at 10 pounds pressure for at least 75 minutes (meats will not be harmed by processing longer).

If you google “canning chicken” you’ll find more detailed directions.

Be careful with spices if you do this. Sage turns bitter, and other spices are magnified. I made the mistake once of adding a tiny piece of bay leaf to some beef I was canning. That one half-pint jar could have flavored 5 gallons of stew! Better to just use salt, and season it the rest of the way when you open it.

[Ellendra]

I’d love to see it required that all voters must pass a current events test before they can vote.

Who would you trust to design and administer this test?

[Ellendra]

There’s a blogger, Jackie Clay, who often tests her storage techniques for the long-term. She’s opened jars of meat 10-15 years after she canned them and they were still good. As long as they were processed correctly, the seal stays intact, and they weren’t frozen or stored in direct sunlight, they can keep indefinitely.

(Still, rotate them for freshness)

[ASOC]

Try this

and this for starters.

The University of Ill has some very good pages of storage items and shelf life of home canned food. Enjoy

[Kartographer]

"Who would you trust to design and administer this test?"

How about ACORN?

[vanilla swirl]

“As long as they were processed correctly, the seal stays intact, and they weren’t frozen or stored in direct sunlight, they can keep indefinitely.”

Next question;
How can you tell when it goes bad?
smell?
color?
don’t really want to do a “taste test” and get sick ;-)

BTW Thanks to all!
I’m getting some very valuable info.
Found a great Youtube video canning chicken.
Bought a pressure vessel a few months ago, just been a little “chicken” to start the process. But this info is certainly helping!

[ChocChipCookie]

Seriously? I think you’re reading a bit too much into my comment. Or maybe it’s because I just finished reading “One Second After” and realize just how hard things could become. There will be no easy answers, home or not.

Out of curiosity, how do you feel about people who choose not to work and expect a handout from you and me in the form of taxes? I don’t see that as any different from what is described in this article.

[PatriotGirl827]

I like this article, and I like her blog. Thanks for the ping!

[AppyPappy]

Things won’t be hard. You folks just fantasize about hard times where you hold your relatives off at gunpoint until they admit you were right. How small.

[superloser]

You folks just fantasize about hard times where you hold your relatives off at gunpoint until they admit you were right.

Some of us actually DO have relatives that will be shot on sight because they would be violating a restraining order.

[GYL2]

What’s really disturbing is that there are people out there that area aware of the warning signs and what to do, but don’t want to take action.

Either they think that it’s just NOT going to happen OR they don’t want to think about it happening.

They don’t want to learn from history, but they have to realize that most assuredly there were people in the past in places like pre-WWII Germany who thought the very same way.

Psychologically speaking, it’s called “Normalcy Bias”.

My big question is: How do we overcome that Bias?

How do we convince people (in our own families in some cases) of the need to prepare?

[Mtn Pass]

The majority of these same clowns who aren’t prepared for a catastrophe are the same clowns that will spend thousands of dollars a year going to sporting events. They’re the same people who for the last 35 years know nothing of politics or what is going on around them, but can quote statistics all day from the NBA and the NFL.